There is an interesting article in this morning's Wall Street Journal about Ghosn and his aggressive 2005 targets for Nissan, which may help explain some quality issues that people have reported on the Murano and other cars. Actually, when I was at my local dealer looking at the Murano, the service manager that I got friendly with said to stay clear of the Quest.... interesting.
Here's a couple of quotes from the article. (If enough people want it I can post the whole article, it's a little long).
"By 2002, Nissan had gone from bleeding red ink to all-time record profits. In May of that year, Mr. Ghosn set out a series of new goals called "Nissan 180" with each digit -- 1,8,0 -- representing a target. By 2005, he would boost annual vehicle sales by one million units, raise operating profit margins to 8% or more, and cut the car maker's long-term debt to zero."
- So for Nissan to make 8% profit margins (not really sure what it was before... but definitely lower) is a sign of potential quality issues.
"But Nissan has hit stumbling blocks in a bid to ramp up production. One example: after opening new facilities in Canton, Miss. -- which make such models as the Quest minivan and the Titan pickup -- customers complained about quality problems such as excessive wind noise. Nissan says it is fixing the quality snafus, with Mr. Ghosn dispatching 200 Japanese technicians to North America, including Canton, to address the issue. Still, the quality problems underscore the risks involved in a hurried ramp-up of new-model production to meet ambitious sales goals."
- Doesn't seem like Nissan heard about the problem discussed here. But just glad that the murano is not made in Canton, MS.... I hope....
Here's a couple of quotes from the article. (If enough people want it I can post the whole article, it's a little long).
"By 2002, Nissan had gone from bleeding red ink to all-time record profits. In May of that year, Mr. Ghosn set out a series of new goals called "Nissan 180" with each digit -- 1,8,0 -- representing a target. By 2005, he would boost annual vehicle sales by one million units, raise operating profit margins to 8% or more, and cut the car maker's long-term debt to zero."
- So for Nissan to make 8% profit margins (not really sure what it was before... but definitely lower) is a sign of potential quality issues.
"But Nissan has hit stumbling blocks in a bid to ramp up production. One example: after opening new facilities in Canton, Miss. -- which make such models as the Quest minivan and the Titan pickup -- customers complained about quality problems such as excessive wind noise. Nissan says it is fixing the quality snafus, with Mr. Ghosn dispatching 200 Japanese technicians to North America, including Canton, to address the issue. Still, the quality problems underscore the risks involved in a hurried ramp-up of new-model production to meet ambitious sales goals."
- Doesn't seem like Nissan heard about the problem discussed here. But just glad that the murano is not made in Canton, MS.... I hope....
